


Static Shock: Frozen Out — My Thoughts

by KaibaSlaveGirl34



Series: Static Shock [5]
Category: Original Work, Static Shock
Genre: Christmas, Community: comment_fic, Diary/Journal, Episode: s02e05 Frozen Out, Epistolary, Gen, Homelessness, Mental Health Issues, Season/Series 02, Wordcount: 100-2.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22166608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaibaSlaveGirl34/pseuds/KaibaSlaveGirl34
Summary: Thoughts and musings on the Season 2 Static Shock episode Frozen Out..
Series: Static Shock [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1595503
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Static Shock: Frozen Out — My Thoughts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Harry2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harry2/gifts).



> Disclaimer: Genius Dwayne McDuffie (February 20, 1962 — February 21, 2011) owns Static Shock. I own the fanfics that I cook up from time to time.

**Static Shock: Frozen Out — My Thoughts**

Basically, from my perspective, Static Shock was always a show that was very brave when it came to facing the topic of real-life social issues. It covered topics from racism to gang violence in inner cities. So when it came time for the Christmas episode **Frozen Out** , the subjects of homelessness and mental health were appropriate. The DC Animated Universe never delved too much into religion, besides subtle things here and there. This episode also fully explored many characters’ religious beliefs.

Virgil “Static” Hawkins meets with Reverend Anderson, who explains about the major homelessness problem that is facing the city (and the city’s general indifference to the people). He encounters a homeless girl, and is initially indifferent to her, but then realizes the ice attacks hitting the city are coming from her. At one point, when he asks her if she has a name, she replies, “The voices in the dark, they call me something… Permafrost” before looking up at him with a smile.

Instead of a battle, it’s compassion that wins the day in the end. Static learns more about Permafrost (whose real name happens to be Maureen Connor, as Reverend Anderson explains when he sees the picture of Maureen and her mother) and the hard life that she has had. Reverend Anderson advises Static to remember that Permafrost is not some part of a faceless category called “the homeless,” but instead is actually the same as anyone else — a person in pain. When Static meets her again at the tree-lighting ceremony, and gets a snowball to the face during the ensuing battle, he calls her Maureen while telling her to “chill out.” She is surprised and says, “You… you know my **name**?”

Static replies that he found out from some people that care about her; Permafrost angrily replies that nobody cares about her. Static tells her that he cares, and that he knows what she’s gone through. When she asks him how he knows, he replies that it’s because he lost his mother too. Hearing this, Permafrost sees that he’s right and calms herself, while the snow around them dies down.

Static looks at the picture of her and her mother, saying that he knows how hard it is to lose a loved one, and how the pain never really goes away. With that, he hands the photo back to her, and she takes it while pulling down the hood of her coat. When Static asks her if that was why she had done what she did at the mall and the power station, Permafrost replies with this amazing gem of a speech:

_“Those families, all happy and warm in their homes — they have no idea how it is out here. When you’re homeless, people look right **through** you. It’s like you’re not even **there**.”_

Static sadly agrees, and replies that he’s been guilty of that (while feeling a pang of regret when he recalled how he ignored her request for some change when he first spotted her from afar). Permafrost then adds that when she got her powers, things would get better for her, but they didn’t; she falls to her knees, lamenting that she’s now more alone than she’s been before. Static walks over and offers her a hug (which she accepts).

Despite the fact that he is a superhero, Static learns what it takes to be a real-world hero — and he learns what the holidays are really about in the process.

**Author's Note:**

> Nice feedback is very much appreciated, of course.. :)


End file.
